1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to the field of handling customer calls. In particular, the present invention relates to a method and service for directing a customer call to an appropriate attendant by streamlining integration of customer contact mechanisms and clearly defining the roles, responsibilities and relationships between internal organizations of the enterprise to which the customer call is directed.
2. Description of the Related Art
A major source of customer dissatisfaction with an enterprise is excessive phone transfers. That is, when a customer calls the enterprise's central number requesting advice, a specific product or service, or even a telephone number for a particular employee, her level of dissatisfaction increases 10-20% at each phone transfer. Thus, if a calling customer is transferred 3-4 times before reaching the needed person in the enterprise, the relationship between that customer and that needed person has already soured at the start of their telephone conversation.
The problem of knowing how to direct the customer's call is made more difficult if the enterprise has thousands of employees in the customer service/sales area, and the problem is exacerbated further if the employees are spread out across country borders. For example, an enterprise may have a central number in Europe, but the service/product needed may be in a particular country, such as Switzerland.
What is needed therefore is a method and system for efficiently directing a customer's call to an appropriate person who can provide the needed service, either within the enterprise or from a business partner of the enterprise.